48 Life and Times of " The Druid" 



ing more and more a scandal in the eyes of 

 religious men, who at the close of last cen- 

 tury and at the beginning of this were lifting 

 up their voices strenuously against it. A 

 complete reformation, or a complete destruc- 

 tion of the whole system, seemed to many 

 persons sooner or later to be inevitable. The 

 difficulty, however, of taking the first step, 

 where the alleged objection to alteration was 

 its impracticability, was not easily to be sur- 

 mounted. The mere resistance to change 

 which clings to old institutions was in itself 

 a considerable obstacle, and in the case of 

 some public schools, from the nature of their 

 constitution, almost insuperable. Whether 

 among those engaged in the existing system, 

 or those most vehemently opposed to it, it 

 must have been extremely difficult to find a 

 man who would attempt, or, if he attempted, 

 carry through, any extensive improvements." 

 At this juncture Dr. Arnold was elected, 

 in 1827, to the supreme command of a school, 

 which, thus far, although founded in 1567, had 

 made but little mark upon the history of this 

 country. Dr. Arnold's chief aim was to make 

 the boys entrusted to his charge Christian 



